<p>The College received 1,800 early decision applications for the Class of 2016, setting a new record and marking a nearly 3-percent increase from last year, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Maria Laskaris said in an interview with The Dartmouth. The number already exceeds the 1,785 early decision applications submitted for the Class of 2015, but is expected to increase as several additional applications, in particular those sent by mail from international students, “trickle in” over the next few days, Laskaris said</p>
<p>Interesting comments from Lasarkis on the increase in ED applicants from recruited athletes:</p>
<p>"An increased number of recruited athletes applied early decision this year, Laskaris said. While she did not have the exact number for the Class of 2016, Laskaris said the increase can be attributed to the fact that “more and more of the athletic recruitment process happens at the early decision time.”</p>
<p>What she fails to mention is whether having more recruited athletes in the ED round will mean fewer spots in ED for non-athletes. If the target number remains the same (425), bringing in more athletes in ED would most likely mean fewer “slots” for non-hooked applicants in the early round.</p>
<p>How could you ever tell? If Dartmouth gets 500 fewer or 1000 more applications this year, what would it have been were it not for the change at Harvard and Princeton? There are lots of factors that influence the number of applicants.</p>